The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1887-11-10
THE EVIL INFLUENCE OF REFORM
SCHOOLS.

nine thousand boys and girls. The
causes Of commitment embrace
nearly every offence, from petty
larceny to manslaughter. The
means Of amendment employed in
clude not only the removal of the
offender from the opportunity Of
indulging his criminal tastes, but
also the teaching Of some trade, IL
struction in the elementary branch
es of knowledge, and endeayor to
form an upright character. Con-
cerning the success Of the reform
school in the reformation Of those
intrusted to it, there is room for
two contrary opinions. In an exam
ination Of the convicts Of the prisons
Of New York, which was ordered
by the Prison Association of the
State in 1875, it was found that of
the inmates of the Sing Sing Peni-
tentiary, 22.31 per cent. had been
"refuge'' boys. AS the usual num-
Der of inmates Of the reformatories
of New York exceed three thous-
and, it is plain that the large pro-
portion Of them do not become in
mates Of prisons within the State.
AS to the reforms accomplished,
estimates vary from 60 to Is per
cent. But in these percentages are
included many children who with
out being vicious, but exposed and
homeless, are received into houses
of refuge. The proportion, there
fore, Of those who have served in
reform schools who are afterwards
convicted of crimes, is small, not
exceeding 30 or 40 per cent. Yet
statistics indicate that the influence
of these schools in impressing evil
habits upon certain class of their
boys is'exceedingly strong. Of the
22.31 per cent. Of the Sing Sing
convicts examined who had been in
these schools, 90 per cent.-ffty-
one out of ffty-two-were hab;tual
criminals. Some light is thrown
upon the methods by which the re-
form school helps to fix the habit Of
criminality by the following con-
versation between a convict at Sing
Sing and an examiner:
''Please, sir, may I ask you a
question % asks the convict.
"Certainly," is the examiners
reply:
"Why do they send boys to the
house of REFUGEE"
Il suppose it is to teach them to
be better boys"
"That's a great mistake, for they
get worse"
sHow should that be?"
Il wouldn't be here only I was
sent to the refugee
"What did you learn there that
should have caused you to be sent
here?"
Il didn't know how to pick pock-
cts before T went. and [ didn't know
no fences: that's where you sell
what you steal, you know"
"What else did you learn in the
way Of thieving?"
Il learned how to put up a job
in burglary.'
Another inmate-who at the age
Of seven stole fruit, and was sent to
a reform school at Albany for nine
months; at eight was found guilty
Of petit larceny, and sent to the
house Of refuge; at twelve was COM
mitted to a juvenile asylum, and
escaped three times in four days;
and three other times before reach
ing his majority was sentenced to
reformatories, and who between the
ages Of twenty-one and forty-one
had been committed to prison no
less than ten times-remarked to
the examiner:
Il never learned thing in my
life in prison to benefit me outside.
The house of refuge is the worst
place a boy could be sent to-"
"Why SOP"
"Boys are worse than men; I be-
lieve boys know more mischief than
men. In the house of refuge I
learned to sneak-thief, shop-lift,
pick-pockets, and open lock-
''How did you get an apportu-
nifty to learn all this?"
There's plenty Of chance. They
learn it from each other when at
play"
In respect to the evil influence
of the reform school upon certain
boys, it is, moreover, worth while
to refer to the experience of one of
the most learned and humane
judges Of the Supreme Bench of
Maine. Before his court was
brought boy who had, evidently
in fit of extreme rage, shot his
father. He had, so far as known,
borne good reputation, and was
church member. He pleaded that
he believed the gun was not loaded,
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